Coin-controlled cabinet.



E. BLUM & G. MULLER. COIN CONTROLLED CABiNET.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, IBIS.

1,21 1,060. Patented Jan. 2,1917.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1.

WITNESS 1 INVENTOR.

E. BLUM & G. MULLER.

COIN CONTROLLED CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED SEN-23.19%.

INVENTORS TTORNEYZ jfllw p BY. WA

W I TNESS EUGENE BLUM AND GEZA MU'LLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

COIN-CONTROLLED CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 2, 1917.

Application filed September 23, 1918. Serial No. 121,795.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, EUGENE BLUM and GFIZA MfiLLER, citizens of the United States, and residents of the city of New York, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Coin-Controlled Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to a combined savings bank and cabinet.

The main object of the invention is to provide a cabinet for holding toilet articles, shaving outfits, or other necessities which are made use of at certain intervals, in combination with a locking device that is releasable by the insertion of a coin of a predetermined value, thereby causing the owner to pay, as it were, for the use of the articles in the cabinet, and to save the price charged for the use of the same.

Another object of the invention is to devise a cabinet of the character described which can be manufactured on a commercial scale, or in other words one which is not so diflicult to produce as to be beyond the reasonable cost of such a contrivance.

A further object of the invention is to construct a savings bank of the type mentioned, that is provided with a registering device showing the amount of money held therein.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a savings bank of the character specified, which will be automatically opened when a predetermined amount of money has been deposited thereinto.

WVith these and other objects in view, which will more fully appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the combination, arrangement, and construction of parts hereinafter -described, pointed out in the appended claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, it being understood that many changes may be made in the size and pro- -portion of the several parts and details of construction within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

One of the many possible embodiments of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a combined savings bank and cabinet constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section taken through the same; Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 41 of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a section taken on line 55 of Fig. 2; Fig. 6 is a top plan view of the lock releasing and registering mechanism of the apparatus, on a larger scale; and Fig. 7 is a section taken on line 77 of Fig. 6.

In the drawings the numeral 10 indicates a cabinet, that is made in the form of a box, divided into a plurality of compartments, for instance four, which are denoted in their order by the numerals 11, 12, 13, and 14. The topmost compartment, that is compartment 11, constitutes the savings bank, and contains the actuating mechanism of the device. It is provided with a door 15, hinged at 16 to the cabinet and held under the tension of a spring 17, that has tendency to swing the door open if its locking device is released. For the purpose of holding this door in its closed position, there is fixedly attached to the inner face thereof a hook-shaped catch 18, with which is adapted to engaged the hook-shaped end 19 of a lever 20, the latter being pivoted at 21 to a standard 22, that is mounted upon the bottom 23 of the compartment 11. A spring 24, engaging the said lever and the cabinet, holds the lever in engagement with the catch. The means for disengaging the lever and catch will be described hereinafter.

The compartment 12 is provided with a door 25, that is hinged at 26 to the cabinet, and is also under the action of a spring, indicated at 27, which has a tendency to swing the door open. The last named door is also provided with a locking device, comprising a catch 28 upon the inner face thereof, in engagement with the hookshaped end 29 of a lever 30, that is fulcrumed at 31 to the under face of the bottom 23, and pivoted at 32 to an actuating bar 33, which extends through the bottom 23 into the compartment 11, and is vertically shiftable in a boss 34 and a bracket 35, both of the last-named elements being disposed within the compartment 11. A spring 36 holds the actuating bar 33 in its elevated position, thereby causing the lever 30 to be held in engagement with the catch 28. The actuating bar 33 is shifted by means hereinafter to be specified.

Within the compartment 13 is held a drawer 37, the front wall 38 of which is overlapped by the lower edge of the door 25,

so that the said drawer cannot be withdrawn from the compartment 13 until the door has been swung open. In the compartment t is disposed a drawer 39, which can he withdrawn or inserted, at will, independcompartment 11, and extends through an aperture in the top i3 o1 the said compartment. This spindle is provided outside of the cabinet with a handle a l, that is, for instance, bail-shaped, thereby serving at the same time as the means by which the cabinet can be transported from place to place. Upon the spindle is coiled a spring 15, one end of which is attached in any suitable manner to the said spindle, while its other end is lined to the bearing il, thereby holding the handle i l parallel to the front edge d6 f the top of the cabinet, as clearly appears from Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings. To the spindle is rigidly secured a coin chute or pocket 4:7, which is open at its top and bottom, its movement being limited by stops i3 and i9, disposed upon the bracket Above the coin chute is rotatably mounted upon spindle a disk 50, provided with a plurality of radial slots 51, in the present case ten, adjacent to which are printed or otherwise marked upon the said disk, near its peripheral portion, numerals running from O0 to 90. Each slot is provided along its radial edges with downwardly projecting lips 52, the lower edges of which are posed a suitable distance above the upper edge of the coin chute or pocket, as clearly appears from Fig. 7 of the drawings. l Vhen the coin chute is in abutment with the stop l8, it registers with one of the slots 51 in the disk 50 and with a coin receiving slot 53 in the top of the cabinet. On the other hand, when the coin chute abuts against the stop 49, it is in alinement with a slot 54 in the horizontal portion of the bracket 35. Upon the underface of the disk are provided ten ratchet teetl1like projections 55. These teeth are disposed near the periphery of the disk and extend each from a slot 51 to the one adjacent the same. These teeth cooperate with the actuating bar 33, which is, when the coin chute abuts against the stop L8, held by the spring 36 in engagement with the highest point of a projection, to be depressed when the disk 50 is shifted in a manner herein after to be described in the direction of the arrow shown in Fig. 6 adjacent it. When the coin chute arrives in abutting position with the stop 429, a projection has ridden over the said actuating bar, or in other words it has come into contact with the lowest point of the projection, thereby being lowered, to be raised again by the spring '36, and thus being brought into contact with the highest point of the next projection in the series.

Between the slots5l marked and 00 there are provided upon the periphery oi" the disk 50 a few gear teeth 56, which are adapted to mesh with those of a spur gear 57, that is rotatably mounted upon a stationary spindle 58 within the compartment 11. With the spur gear 57 is connected or made integral a disk 59, upon which are marked a plurality of equiistantly disposed numerals, running, for instance, from 0 to 5, as clearly appears from 6 of the drawings. The numerals upon the disk 59 run in a direction opposite to those upon the disk 50, both series oi numerals being adapted to appear through an aperture 60 the top plate of the cabinet. Tn order to prevent the gear 57 from turning too gtar, any suitable step may be provided, for instance, a blade spring 61, that is fixed to some stationary part oi the device and has upon its tree end a bend 62, adapted to engage the teeth of the gear 57. The gear 57 has a sleeve 63, to which is attached a cam 6-1, that is adapted to engage the free end of the lever 20 above described, and to raise the same, tl ereby disengaging its hookshaped end 19 from the hook-shaped catch 18. The cam 6% is in registering position with the numeral 5 upon the disk 59.

The operation of this device is as follows: Assuming that the cabinet is designed to hold a shaving outfit, it will be found convenient to place the shaving cup, brush, and soap into the compartment 12, the razors into the compartment 13, and a hair brush and comb into the compartment 1 1-. Tnitially the 0 mark upon the disk 59 and the 00 mark upon the disk 50 are visible through the aperture 60 in the top portion of the cabinet. Both doors of the cabinet are closed and held in such positions by their respective locking mechanisms. Normally the coin chute or pocket abuts against the stop d8,

in which position, as above described, the said chute is in alinement with the coin receiving slot 53 in the top portion of the cabinet and with a slot 51 in the disk 50. Tn order to gain access to the compartments 12 and 13, a coin of the proper denomination is inserted into the coin slot 53, through which it passes into the coin chute or pocket at, and comes to rest upon the horizontal portion of the bracket 35. The distance between the upper iiace of this bracket and the upper face of the disk 50 is such that a coin, resting upon the said bracket, connects the disk 50 to the coin chute. Ti now the The moverie slot 54 in the bracket 35. While at which point the coin drops through the moving in this manner, the corresponding projection 55 upon the under face of the disk 50 has lowered the actuating bar 33, which, in turn, disengages the lever 30 from the catch 28, thus permitting the spring 27 to act and to swing the door 25 open. The spring 36 returns then the actuating bar 33 to its raised position, in which the lever 30 is ready to engage the hook-shaped catch 28 of the door 25. In this manner the articles can be removed from the compartments 1.2 and 13 for use. After use, the articles are put into the said compartments, and the door forced against the action of its spring to closing position. The spring 45 swings the spindle 40 back to its normal position, in which it is ready to repeat the cycle of operations now described. It is to be observed that, as the disk 50 is moved through the distance speci fied, the numeral 10 will be visible through the aperture 60, indicating that ten cents have been deposited into the bank.

Iunnediately before the disk 50 is about to complete a. turn, the teeth upon the said disk are brought into mesh with those of the gear 57, causing the latter to move through an angular distance corresponding to that between two graduations thereon. When the disk 59 has completed a turn,the cam 64 upon its sleeve 63 raises the free end of the lever 20, thereby releasing the door 5, which will be swung open by its spring. The coins deposited in the bank can then be withdrawn, and the two disks reset to zero positions.

\Vhat we claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, the combination with a box having a door provided with a catch, a lever disposed within said box in engagement with said catch for holding said door in its closed position, an oscillatable spindle, a coin chute fixedly attached to said spindle, a disk rotatably mounted upon said spindle provided with radial slots and with ratchet teeth-like projections upon its under face, said box having a coinreceiving slot normally registering with said chute and with one of the slots in said disk, whereby acoin inserted into the slot in said box formsaconnector between said disk and said chute, and a springpressed actuating bar in engagement wlth said lever and said projections, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. In a device of the character described, the combination with a box having a door provided with a catch, a lever disposed within said box in engagement with said catch for holding said door in its closed position, an oscillatable spindle, a coin chute fixedly attached to said spindle, a disk rotatably mounted upon said spindle provided with radial slots and with ratchet teeth-like projections upon its under face, said box having a coin-receiving slot normally registering with said chute and with one of the slots in said disk, whereby a coin inserted into the slot in said box forms a connector between said disk and said chute, and means operated by said projections for disengaging said lever from said catch when said disk is given a partial turn.

3. In a device of the character described, the combination with a box having a door provided with a catch, a lever disposed within said box in engagement with said catch for holding said door in its closed position, an oscillatable spindle, a coin chute fixedly attached to said spindle, a disk rotatably mounted upon said spindle provided with radial slots and with ratchet teeth-like projections upon its under face, said box having a coin-receiving slot normally registering with said chute and with one of the slots in said disk, whereby a coin inserted into the slot in said box forms a connector between said disk and said chute, means operated by said projections for disengaging said lever from said catch when said disk is given a partial turn, a second disk rotatably mounted within said box, a second door upon said box having a catch, a lever in engagement with said second catch, means upon said second disk for disengaging said second lever from said second catch when said second disk completes an entire turn, and a gearing between said two disks causing said secondnamed disk to move through a partial turn whenever said first-named disk completes a whole turn.

4. In a device of the character described, the combination with a box having a door provided with a catch, a lever disposed within said box in engagement with said catch for holding said door in its closed position, an oscillatable spindle, a coin chute fixedly attached to said spindle, a slotted disk rotatably mounted upon said spindle, said box having a coinreceiving slot normally registering with said chute and with one of the slots in said disk, whereby a coin inserted into the box slot forms a connector between said disk and said chute, and cooperating means upon said disk and said lever for dis engaging the latter from said catch whenever said disk is moved through an angular distance corresponding to that between two adjacent slots therein.

Signed at New York, in the county of New York, and State of New York, this 21st day of September A. D. 1916.

EUGENE BLUM.

GEZA MULLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patentl. Washington, D. O. 

